July 15, 2008

New German Cinema Directors

Under Construction

Introduction

I recall some of the most exciting cinema of the 1970s being what became described as New German Cinema. This was the cinematic new wave which had broken at various times over much of Europe with most remembering France as being associated with the Nouvelle Vague, and the directors Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rivette, Malle and several others being the cool people to talk about. Britain too had had its changes, as had the then Czechoslovakia. Germany too had had its new wave. The build up for these cultural moments and movements are of course uneven however the same fundamentals were driving these waves although each country had its cultural specificities.

In Germany the key defining moment or turning point can be seen as the Oberhausen Manifesto of 28th February 1962. The Oberhausen Film Festival was then in its eigth year. Young directors had been coming together at Oberhausen to celebrate their work in this small Ruhr town. The work itself comprised of shorts but there was a determination to make full- length feature films. The Oberhausen Manifesto was signed by 26 young directors overall. Undoubtedly their mood and their frustrations woring within a moribund German cinema of the time was intense. In reality the situation of the national cinemas in Britain, France and Italy was far more interesting by 1962. The directors declared their object to be no less than "...the creation of the new German Feature Film" (Cited Sandford p 12):

We have a concrete notion of the production of the new German cinema at the intellectual, formal and economic levels. We are collectively prepared to take economic risks. The old cinema is dead. We believe in the new one. (Oberhausen Manifesto 1962 cited Sandford p 13)

Women Directors in New German Cinema

It will be quickly be noticed that a significant number of the directors mentioned are women. It is interesting to note that two of the books on the current bibliography below were criticised by Julia Knight (1994) - also in the bibliography - because of their treatment (or lack of it) of women directors within New German Cinema. Knight cites Anton Kaes on page 14 who criticises Sandford's book:

such accomplished directors such as Helke Sander, Helma Sanders-Brahms, or Margarethe von Trotta are not represented as major directors but merely as illustrations of the women's film.

...can inevitably come to be considered in some way representative. this futher reinforces the marginalisation of women's film-making. (Knight, 1992 p 14)

Knight is of course quite right becuase academic contributions help to construct the dominant discourse so it is as well a corrective was put into place, albeit some ten years later! Knight continued her survey of academic contributions which will be summarised in a later posting suffice it to say here this linked (where possible) overview has been constructed to recognise this critical gap in academic output. Where there are no links to external comments considered of worth this acts as an identification of a critical gap, and proffers a research opportunity to Germanists at least. (See also Women's Cinema in Germany)

Researcher Warning

For those visitors using this as a research reference point in Women and Film please cite the page referencing the date of access. This is very important as this page will be a dynamic one for some time as new links are researched and added.